I have tried pretty much all the various bass drum 'systems' that are out there, and I am happy to use this on the batter side of the bass drum as it is. Other heads, such as evans emad system just takes too much energy out of the head, and makes it sound like the drum is full of blankets. This takes the right amount of ring out of the sound but leaves it lively, so there is still some top end in the mix. I think where too many drummers go wrong is they get their sound so it is right BEFORE they are playing to the band, then it sounds too dead. You want your drums to sound right WITH the band, and so it is the top overtones that help a bass drum to cut in the mix, and this drum head does it perfectly. Incidentally, for the best front head sound I actually cut about 1cm from around the edge of the sound control ring, and cut a 2 inch hole in the front near the edge (no more), and then this gives the drum a bit of extra punch but still gives it the full double headed sound, without tweaking the sound control ring it is too dead and doesn't quite have the dynamics. I can't imagine ever using another head- this one is the perfect bass drum head.
